Book review : small state status seeking : Norway’s quest for international standing

Abstract

In recent decades, the idea that world politics is hierarchical rather than anarchic in nature has gained traction, with the quest for social status as one defining feature of interstate relations. Until recently, however, this field of research has primarily focused on the social status of great powers and overlooked the pursuit of international prestige and esteem among states of lesser standing. Benjamin de Carvalho and Iver B. Neumann’s edited volume Small state status seeking sets out to address this lacuna. The editors suggest that competing for power supremacy is not really an option for small states. Thus, for the Lilliputians of the world, social status often becomes ‘the only game in town’. As the introductory chapter suggests, small powers like Norway exemplify this attitude by seeking to project moral authority by being acknowledged as a good, reliable partner and honest broker to the major powers. It has pursued the good power. The book foregoes broad generalisations to inductively explore the numerous forms of non-great power strategies for status-seeking, which it then suggests could offer a fruitful basis for other comparative projects.